HOW OKPE BECAME NOT RECOGNISED BY DELTA STATE GOVERNMENT AS A SEPARATE ETHNIC GROUP AND THE UPU MEMBERSHIP CONFUSION.
As a student of history let me attempt an explanation. Before the advent of British rule, Okpe was an established ethnic group with its pure language, separate history of migration and with its government and territory well defined and devoid of any external control. For the purpose of administrative convenience only the different ethnic groups of Urhobo, Okpe and Isoko were created together into a district in Delta Province known as Urhobo Division, just like the name of a state in Nigeria today does not mean that the various people in that state belong to the ethnic group with which the state is named. Akure people for example are not of Ondo tribe even though the name of the state is Ondo; Ibadan people are not under Oyo Kingdom despite the fact that their state is named Oyo State; and Esan and Etsako people are not of the Edo ethnic group despite the name of their state being Edo.
The above are just some few examples in today’s Nigeria. After independence and later local government creation in 1976, the use of the name Urhobo for Okpe areas ended. The use of Urhobo for Isoko areas had ended in 1963 after they succeeded in having their Isoko Division with headquarters in Oleh. The agitation of the Okpe people for a separate division in the 1950s cooled down as Orerokpe was head of the Western Urhobo District and Sapele had the status of headquarters of Sapele Municipal Council. The pressure on the Okpes was definitely not as high as that of the Isokos who did not have a headquarters at all as their headquarters was Ughelli as they were part of Western Urhobo District.
During Bendel State time when Edo and Delta states were together, the Okpe language was one of the languages along with Urhobo, Itsekiri, Edo, Esan, etc for newscasting in the government television and radio then. By then, there was no law which recognised these ethnic groups but just a policy of reflecting major language groups. I believe Okpe parents and elderly ones would still remember Okpe newscasters like John Anikele Olojoba, and Dawadakpoye Ugbeye then who were reading Okpe language news on Bendel Radio and television then.
The recognition of the Okpe language continued in the new Delta State during the military administration till when Gov. Ibru became governor. The political atmosphere then was such that pitched the people of Urhobo, Okpe, Isoko and Ijaws against the Anioma tribes because they were angry that the Delta State capital was taken to Asaba instead of a more central place in the oil producing areas. The political forces of these areas therefore came into an alliance and expected that if they continued being united, they would retain the governorship seat forever. Itsekiris allied with the Delta North candidate who was Chief Eric Opia with an Itsekiri, Dr. Leigh as his running mate.
When Ibru won, he immediately put in place a policy of recognising five ethnic groups officially by the state government which were Urhobo, Anioma, Ijaw, Itsekiri and Isoko. This was made to coincide with the appointment of the Orodje of Okpe as the Chairman of the Delta State Traditional Council to be the first traditional ruler in Delta State. Ibru convinced most Okpe politicians then that Okpe was in a firm alliance with Urhobo. The alliance got the late Chief Eradajaye to be the senator representing both Okpe and Urhobo in the Senate. In fact Okpe also had two House of Reps members then one for Sapele(late Hon Edesiri Azigbo) and Okpe (Hon. Larry Dafiode) and also three House of Assembly members as two represented Sapele LGA. The political equation was moving with complexities that I believe Okpe political leaders could not grapple with the future implications of what they were not resisting. Ibru administration then stopped Okpe news on Radio and TV and retained only Okpe language request which still continues today. This was the situation until Abacha struck and dismantled every political arrangement in 1994.
When Ibori leadership began, things have greatly changed. Okpe had lost the two house of reps members and were joined with Uvwie to produce one after Okpe missed out in new local government creation. We also lost House of Assembly slot from three to two. With majority of Okpes having supported Engr. Moses Kragha of APP against Chief Ibori PDP in the 1999 elections, the Okpes lost voices and influences in the Ibori’s first tenure.
The new government simply continued where Ibru stopped as government policies usually proceed from where it is left unless reviewed. But this time, the Orodje did not become chairman of the Delta State Traditional Rulers Council again. Okpe did not have a senator again; we now had just one House of Reps member instead of the previous two, and two House of Assembly members instead of the previous three. The political decline of Okpe in the first tenure of the Ibori administration (in addition our Orodje then had age and health not on his side) meant that there was hardly any persons to speak for Okpe. To make matters worse too, only Lagos Okpe Union branches held National Okpe Union offices then unlike now that the Okpe Union constitution has been reviewed to make it truly National.
With UPU rising in political status from the Ibru times, some Okpe politicians started joining. Indeed they initially saw it not as an ethnic platform but as a political union of Delta Central people that would make Delta Central retain governorship and control of the state. Resources and political power attract loyalty. That was how some Okpe persons got enmeshed into UPU. Okpes that joined the UPU at earlier times did so because one of their parents were Urhobo and not because they took Okpe to be Urhobo.
The entire alliance has led to Okpe being shut out of many institutions in the state, deprived of its right place in DESOPADEC, projects, teaching of Okpe language in schools, and endured so many disadvantages.
Okpe identity does not reduce the chances of Okpe attaining governorship. It is how an Okpe candidate reaches out to Delta South, Delta North and other areas of Delta Central that will enhance the chances of the candidate becoming governor. If Okpes do not unite for Okpe identity, then the downward trajectory for us will continue and God forbid, our children would look back to regret the kind of parents we were.
Akpederin Kingsley Ehensiri Esq.
